VOLUNTARY SURRENDER

Who may apply

The following persons may apply to surrender the estates mentioned:

Estate Person

Estate of natural person Debtor or his agent, expressly authorised to do so

Estate of deceased Executor

Estate of debtor incapable of managing own affairs Party entrusted with administering the estate, ie
the curator bonis

Partnership estate All members of partnership residing in South Africa, or their agent2

Joint estate of spouses married in community Both spouses

2.2. Requirements

The court may accept the surrender of a debtor’s estate only if it is satisfied that:

(1) The debtor’s estate is, in fact, insolvent

A debtor is insolvent if the amount of his total liabilities exceeds the value of all of his assets.

The test is whether it is established that the debtor is without funds to pay his debts in full

and it is improbable that the assets will realise enough for this purpose.

(2) The debtor owns realisable property of sufficient value to defray all costs of

sequestration which will be payable out of the free residue of his estate

The “costs of the sequestration” include not only the costs of surrender, but also all the

general costs of administration in terms of Section 97 of the Act.